I think every mother has had a bad moment,day,week,month!
Yesterday was one of those days for me. It all started when I decided to take the kids to meet up with my sister Selina, and her kids at the campground they were staying at while they were in town the past few days. The campground has an awesome, small water park, and we decided to take the kids there. It was supposed to rain off and on the whole day, and then storm around 4:30PM. We figured the kids could probably get a an hour or two of swimming in before we would have to leave.
Right before I left to meet up with Selina, Liam fell off our front porch, head first onto the sidewalk. Blood was running down his face! Of course I got upset because I hate blood, and I hate seeing any of my kids hurt. Thankfully Nathan was home, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. He put about an inch long cut in his forehead, but it didn't need stitches. We put some antibiotic ointment on it, and a band-aid. After a few minutes of watching Curious George, I was able to get Liam calmed down, and get the van loaded up. We left about 20 minutes late, but we were on our way.
Yesterday was one of those days for me. It all started when I decided to take the kids to meet up with my sister Selina, and her kids at the campground they were staying at while they were in town the past few days. The campground has an awesome, small water park, and we decided to take the kids there. It was supposed to rain off and on the whole day, and then storm around 4:30PM. We figured the kids could probably get a an hour or two of swimming in before we would have to leave.
Right before I left to meet up with Selina, Liam fell off our front porch, head first onto the sidewalk. Blood was running down his face! Of course I got upset because I hate blood, and I hate seeing any of my kids hurt. Thankfully Nathan was home, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. He put about an inch long cut in his forehead, but it didn't need stitches. We put some antibiotic ointment on it, and a band-aid. After a few minutes of watching Curious George, I was able to get Liam calmed down, and get the van loaded up. We left about 20 minutes late, but we were on our way.
We got there around 12:30PM and it was very nice until 3PM....thunder! Everyone had to get out of the water for 15 minutes to see if the thunder would go away. We waited about 5 minutes, and then it started drizzling. Another 5 minutes passed and then more thunder. I kept thinking "I should just pack up and go." But the kids so wanted to swim more, I figured I'd wait a few more minutes and see if it would pass.
As we were waiting, I smelled something not so wonderful. I called Liam over to me and checked him, and sure enough...he had gone #2 in his swimmie diaper! GROSS GROSS GROSS!!! Poop is bad enough normally, but wet, soggy, runny, poop is so disgusting! I went to change him under the shelter we were at when Selina suggested I take him into the shower rooms and clean him off there. I agreed that was a better idea. It was still just drizzling when I took him into the shower room. I was not looking forward to cleaning him up. I knew it was going to be gross. Well, when I took his diaper off, poop ran all down my hands, and all over the floor!!! By this point I was more than frustrated but was trying to stay calm. I put Liam under one of the showers and turned it on. Instead of the water going down like it looked like it should have... it shot out all over the place and got one half of me soaking wet! I quickly shut it off and found that the handicap shower head had a hose attached to it. I picked Liam up, ran him over to that shower, and cleaned him off. Of course the water wouldn't get warm so he was not really happy about the whole experience. Meanwhile, my hands are still covered in poop.
I wrapped Liam up in a towel, and was washing my hands when I realized..."it's not drizzling anymore...it's POURING!" Now this would not have been such a big deal if the covers over the shelters at the pool didn't have holes in them. But they did. I rushed out of the shower room and looked over to the shelter where I had left Selina,her kids, and my other two kids. They were getting soaked, and Alanna was screaming her head off! I left Liam standing by the shower room and started running as fast as I could over to them. I grabbed all my stuff, threw it onto the stroller, told Ruy to come on, and ran off pushing the stroller while Alanna continued to scream.
I was pretty much soaked by the time I got back over to where Liam was standing. He was still all naked wrapped up in his towel. I sat him down in his seat in the stroller. I then went and apologized to the people that worked there about our big mess in the shower room. They said it was no big deal and that they would clean it up, but seriously... no one wants to deal with that! I felt terrible. And my hands still stunk horribly of poop, even after washing them. Gross!
We all walked as fast as possible to our vans. Selina helped me get my stuff into my van, and tried keeping an umbrella over me as I loaded them to keep me dry, but it was pointless. I was dripping wet and extremely stressed out. Alanna was still screaming because she was wet and hungry, which made my stress worse. Selina kept saying "It's ok. We will laugh about this later. It's just rain!" To which I then responded not so nicely..."It's not just rain! And NO it's not ok! This kind of thing stresses me out SO BAD!" And then I slammed Ruy's door shut. Oh, and somewhere in the middle of all of this, I snapped at Ruy about his seat belt, and I snapped at Liam about not trying to help me put his shirt on. I knew I was not acting right, but at that moment I was so frustrated, I couldn't get myself calm. I then went and shut the door at the back of the van, and as I closed it, all the water that had piled up on it while it was open, came splashing down on top of me!!! Yep, that did it. I was SO done. I got into the van, not really saying much of a goodbye to my sister. Alanna was still screaming because she needed to nurse. I got back out of the van, got her out, and put her in the front with me so I could feed her. Selina left for her RV, and I sat there nursing Alanna.
It's amazing what a few moments of quiet can do for you. As I sat there nursing Alanna, I was able to collect myself, and gain control of my thoughts and feelings. I knew I had been wrong. I had panicked. I had yelled at the kids. I had been ugly to my sister who was just trying to help. I had been a bad example to my children. I had shown a terrible bad attitude.
Once Alanna finished nursing, I put her back into her seat, and drove over to my sister's RV. I got out of the van, opened the boys' door and said "Mommy is very sorry. I acted so wrong a few minutes ago. I should not have gotten upset with you boys, or stressed out so much about the poop, and the rain. I did not act like Jesus. I am so sorry. Can you forgive me?" It's kind of difficult sometimes to humble yourself like that to your children, but they need to know that we realize we are not perfect. And that we need forgiveness sometimes just like they do. My sweet, little Liam looks up at me and says "Yes Mummy (he says Mommy like he is British for some reason) I forgive you!" It was the sweetest thing. It made me feel even worse for my behavior then I already did. Ruy forgave me too, and we all started to feel much better about everything.
I went over to my sister's RV and went in and apologized to her as well. We both laughed, and decided it would most definitely be a day we would never forget! I invited them over for dinner, and we ended the night at my house...eating tacos, and ice cream, and debating over what my newest little nephews name should be!
I am thankful for my sister. She is a constant reminder of what patience and self-control look like. I strive to be more like her in those areas. I am thankful for my kids, and their willingness to forgive me when I make mistakes. I am thankful for God bringing that moment into my life, so that I could grow and learn from it.
And because I never leave a post without a picture...
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